


Greenwich In The Sky

by MiChiAzalie



Series: A Starry Sky Of Small Desires [2]
Category: Fate/EXTRA, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Being The King's Mongrel Has Its Perks, Date Nights, Dinner dates, F/M, Hakuno Being Oblivious To Social Cues, I just want them to be happy, Romance, Sort Of, i just
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29841720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiChiAzalie/pseuds/MiChiAzalie
Summary: Hakuno still struggles to adapt to the world beyond the Moon Cell. Luckily, she counts with the help of her capricious Servant, who in showing her the wonders of life, has prompted what had to be the most surreal experience in Hakuno’s short life, with Gilgamesh actually acting like a goddamn human being for once, setting her a banquet so grand it was hard to believe none of it wasn’t some very convoluted ploy for a dinner date.
Relationships: Gilgamesh | Archer/Kishinami Hakuno
Series: A Starry Sky Of Small Desires [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915801
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Sometimes Hakuno liked to reminisce. Maybe it was simply due to how she was, prone to think, think and think until she gave herself a headache, or maybe it was due to some lingering -and unfounded- apprehension that she might follow on her other self’s steps and start forgetting everything about herself—but regardless, she liked to reflect on the things that have brought her exactly where she was, especially if she could use some of the insights gained not to make the same mistake twice or thrice.

Truth be told, she still couldn’t quite comprehend how and _why_ she could still be alive—she had expected of herself to be a hopeless case; she hadn’t been expecting anyone to try save her, or anything much at all, let alone her asshole Servant. And for her, that had made the most sense—having no expectations saved her from the unhappiness - _the heartbreak_ \- of disappointment, and she had wanted to leave the world with as less regrets as possible.

Hell, she even remembered reasoning with herself the night before the doors to the Moon Cell’s core would finally open to her that if this was what the Automaton would bestow upon her, that if the probability of her own selfish wish for living rested at zero, she would at least dedicate her last seconds of existence to bring that thing down with her.

She had no expectations—or rather, she didn’t want to have them, in fear they might just end up being betrayed in the most devastating of ways. And yet, even that was denied of her: just as she rejected both Piecemann’s and the Moon Cell’s wishes respectively, Gilgamesh had also rejected hers, saving her from near deletion in what had the be the most blatant Deux Ex Machina Hakuno has ever seen in her short life.

She still wondered up to this date if she had been so easy to read that Gilgamesh was able to predict everything about her shitty suicide plan before she could even put it properly into practice, but regardless of Gilgamesh’s increasingly worrying precognitive abilities concerning herself, the moment she sank into the water and opened her eyes again after a brief moment of pain that felt like it actually lasted for an eternity, _boom_ ; no more emptiness and no more black filth eating at her insides and tearing apart her existence. Hakuno was greeted, instead, by a blinding explosion of gold like she’d never seen before with Gilgamesh standing in the midst of it, both his arms spread wide as he motioned her to the scenery of golden lights and skyscrapers all around them. 

And thus, how she ended up here, sharing space with the same man who brushed every single one of her worries away like they weren’t even worth contemplating, who always found a way to bitch at her about anything and everything like it was somehow her fault and who even had the nerve to chastise her for not praising him enough for his efforts—what did he expect? She was too dumbstruck to even find it in her to do something other than asking him what happened, where he’d taken her, what had he done to her and _why the fuck aren’t you wearing a shirt, Gil?_

…She remembered all of this with disturbing accuracy possibly because in spite of Gilgamesh always going out of his way to show her that he was the most disgusting asshole humanity as a whole has ever had the very dubious honor of ever witnessing, his scheme to give the Moon Cell the middle finger and take her somewhere far away had actually been of some meaning for her.

…And also, if asked, Hakuno could also identify and describe the very exact moment today’s nonsense began with the same level of accuracy and attention to detail she could afford when describing her first memory outside the Moon Cell.

If only she had kept her mouth shut and accepted things as were, she might not have prompted today’s episode of ‘Pleasure 101 with AUO’.

Though taking her uniform as a price did appease the avaricious King of Heroes to a certain degree -and that had only been just… four? months ago at most, _what the fuck,_ how could time go so fast?-, it wasn’t enough of a befitting tribute to deter him for that much longer, as it seemed. Then again, Hakuno doubted there would ever be something precious enough that it would satiate Gilgamesh’s ever-present need of wanting more and more, nothing that would ever satisfy him for long. If she had to find a simile, she’d think her Servant was like a tank full of holes; no matter how much you filled it, the contents will simply leak out and the tank will perpetually remain only half-full.

Good grief.

Her first glimpse of the world outside the Moon Cell was definitely being made more overwhelming that it should really be, if you asked her. Right, sure, when she accepted to follow Gilgamesh when he took her away at the very last second before her whole existence was obliterated, she also accepted everything else he would bring in with himself, but that had been _a leap of faith_. Nowhere in that act of self-determination was implied that he would be this stupidly serious about this ‘teaching you about the joys of life’ thing.

Well, regardless, that was how she found herself like this, stuck with him for what could possibly be until the end of eternity—and come to think of it, it was sort of funny, in a way, to think that all of her clumsy choices in the past have inevitably contributed to bring her to this very same moment. If she wasn’t so concentrated trying not to let her Servant trick her into something dubious every now and again, Hakuno was sure she’d find the irony in this just a little bit funny.

Earlier that evening, Hakuno had been pleasantly occupying her time drinking melted chocolate from a quirky looking mug that she had gotten from one of their many detours at the city’s touristic sites as she watched what she supposed was that planet’s version of… It had been a very popular show back on Earth, from what she's gathered. What was that show called again? Hell’s Kitchen?—she wasn’t very well versed with the planet’s language to understand most of what the people there said, but it was entertaining to watch nonetheless, in a warped, twisted sort of way; Hakuno found the whole thing oddly nostalgic, watching that blond guy bark incoherent orders at people until he made them all look like they were honestly about to cry because of him.

Since she hadn’t expected to leave the condo for the rest of the day, she hadn’t even put on the effort to dress herself in anything too ornery, choosing instead a plain, gray sweatshirt that reached to her knees, one of those rare items Gilgamesh had allowed her to keep for herself, on a whim, despite of how much of a wonder of ugliness he claimed the thing to be.

However, her moment of peace, just like most of them as of late, came to a crashing halt when Gilgamesh came back to the condo after finishing whatever he had decided to amuse himself with this time around, hair slicked back as per usual and wearing that flashy suit she gave him back on the Moon Cell that screamed ‘white slaver’ in bold, capital letters.

The asshole had the nerve to make a _disgusted_ sound when he saw her in her hoodie and made a careless remark of just how unsightly it was that she was presenting herself to him in such a manner.

Of course, her appropriate response to that had been gaping at him.

“ _Presenting myself to you like… what, exactly? Gil, it’s a sweatshirt, it’s supposed to look like this_ ,” Hakuno had deadpanned, not even feeling the slightest bit insulted anymore that Gilgamesh had straight up called her clothes ugly in what had to be the most blatant case of the pot calling the kettle black. “ _How the hell is this even offending you?_ ”

Hakuno owed Gilgamesh many things, she was well aware of this, but what she chose for clothes was certainly not on that list, though wouldn’t be too surprised if one day she found herself without a sweatshirt because he had decided to go burn that as well.

Not that Hakuno was bitter or anything about her uniform.

She wasn’t bitter _at all._

Then again, Hakuno thought, he did seem to be much more indulgent since the night he took her uniform as compensation for all the ‘aggrievances’ he’s had to ‘suffer’ through on her behalf, far less volatile than she remembered him to be. Maybe burning her uniform did have a positive effect on him, after all?

Well. Gilgamesh being bitchy and ungrateful to her notwithstanding, he did seem to be in a somewhat uppity mood after coming from wherever he had gone to, and while she knew she should feel glad for it, a part of her felt that sometime later this good mood of his will come back to bite her in the ass. Gilgamesh in a good mood always meant Gilgamesh wanting her to do things to amuse him, and if there was something that she had learned from Gilgamesh was that he never made her do things without a clear intention—and _of course_ no amount of protesting on her part would ever be able to sway him once he had his mind focused on something.

She had hoped for the sensation to be wrong this time around, but as per usual, her expectations ended up being betrayed the moment Gilgamesh made himself comfortable on a reclinable seat, summoned a glass of wine for himself, and then…

…Summoned another for herself.

Which was… new. It was not like him to share things like these with her. 

Hakuno looked from the goblet resting on the coffee table back to Gilgamesh, then back at the goblet again, frowning.

“Is this… wine?”

Naturally, when he even offered her to have a drink with him, boasting about how not many people were bestowed the unique opportunity of sharing a drink with him, all before he started rambling on and on about just how grateful she should be that ‘the most absolute of kings’ decided to waste a bottle of his most old and expensive wine just for the sake of some plain fool like herself, Hakuno was struck with a bad premonition.

As of now, with his chin raised high with pride, Gilgamesh was sprawled wide over a reclinable, cushioned chair in front of her, uncannily modeled after his throne back on the Moon Cell, she quickly came to notice as soon as it became part of the living room with the rest of the furniture, with his feet up on the coffee table and an arm slung over the back of said chair as he held a golden goblet with the hand that wasn’t dangling precariously behind the seat. Hakuno watched with gross fascination as he swirled the goblet idly, enough so that the dark liquid inside seemed dangerously close to spilling over but never enough to actually spill.

“That is right.” Gilgamesh sounded amused as he said so, his voice as velvety liquid and dark as what was probably inside of his glass. He brought the cup up to his mouth to press his lips against the rim to take a sip. “I am in a somewhat good mood this evening, thus I thought about treating you to my most exquisite. You may praise me as you see fit for such an unparalleled display of graciousness on my part.”

Gilgamesh regarded her with half-lidded eyes and a curious sort of look that she couldn't completely identify—if she really had to guess, it looked like the kind of amused curiosity only the charmed could have. She’s seen that look on Kiara once, but hers had only stirred the hairs on her neck with repulsion. The memory was unpleasant enough that she disregarded the notion as ridiculous. Nonetheless, for a moment… it almost looked like he'd done this for a reason, because for as much as Hakuno was aware that Gilgamesh was a walking endless parade of frivolity and ostentatious excess, he never did things without a reason.

So of course, she had to ask.

“…Gil, are we celebrating something I'm not aware of? You’ve never shared your things with me. Even less your wine.”

Gilgamesh tutted.

“Does my magnanimity really come as such a surprise for you, mongrel?” He laughed again at that, though it sounded more like a bark than anything other. “We celebrate that meritless rock’s fracas at halting me; what else if not that? I must say there is something ever fulfilling about knowing that I lingered in your thoughts enough that it granted me some more extra moments to pull you out of water. Perhaps I ought to make this a habit,” Gilgamesh suggested, which according to Hakuno’s mental Gilgamesh-Japanese/Japanese-Gilgamesh dictionary, actually meant 'Mongrel, I shall require of your entertainment to go with this wine', which she didn’t plan on conceding because she wasn’t Gilgamesh’s personal _handmaid_.

On another note, Hakuno was also pretty much sure that _that_ was not how things went back then _at all_ , but since Gilgamesh looked so satisfied with the idea, she decided not to comment on that, being glad that he was glad and only offering him a shrug as a response.

Although…

As she stared at the glass he set on the coffee table in front of her without even asking if she wanted it, she was almost tempted to ask him if there was something more to it, but then she was reminded that perhaps he might take offense on that as well, since it would almost look like she was rejecting something of his. _Don’t bite the hand that feeds you_ , she thought. She supposed there were some things that were meant to be accepted as they were, but she still wasn’t really sure if she should go ahead with that. The last time she was close to a goblet of wine -or something that was supposed to taste like it- had been during Bathory’s Banquet, and that almost made her regret she had taste buds at all.

As she lost herself inside her own thoughts, her goblet remained untouched, the surface unmarked by any trace of Hakuno’s fingerprints as she only kept on staring at it intently like she thought it would enter her by osmosis, though so far she wasn’t having much luck with that.

What was more, with every passing second that she ignored the goblet of wine that Gilgamesh had gone through all the care of pouring just for her, the more Gilgamesh’s good mood seemed to shift to the kind of impatient frustration that almost bordered on hostility and that Hakuno had grown far too used to deal with and _dread_ —because let it be said, Gilgamesh approach to hostility wasn’t something anyone would wish to be on the receiving end of, _at all_ ; hostility for Gilgamesh wasn’t just him glaring back at you, it was him glaring back at you with so much intensity it could freeze the blood in your veins plus him smirking down at you in a way that gave off the impression that gutting you like a fish would actually make him snort with delight.

Hakuno had been the target of many Servants and Masters’ killing intent, but none of them quite compared to the malicious aura that Gilgamesh could give off if he felt particularly slighted. …It was actually really difficult to describe it to the point that someone who had never been on the receiving end of it would actually get it. Angry Gil was the kind of thing one had to experience to fully understand it, but suffice to say, it never failed to knock the breath from her lungs.

“…Hoh. What’s with that look just now, mongrel?” He curled his lips nastily. “This useless hesitancy that I see on your face… Are you trying to say that you won’t drink from a cup I have personally poured for you?” And you know, for someone who had claimed to be in such an indulgent mood before, the words were hissed a little too strong.

W-Why is he acting so high and mighty over a cup of wine, though…? Hakuno was sure that it really wasn’t _that_ big of a deal. It was just… well, wine; it couldn’t be that _deep_ , could it? How could a person’s entire demeanor change so drastically in only a matter of seconds over something so… inane?

“It’s not a matter if I’ll drink it or not, Gil, it’s just that…” she winced at the memory of Bathory’s banquet. She was sure that if she put in enough effort, she could be able to taste everything Bathory made her eat _again._

Gilgamesh continued to stare at her in irritation. “It’s _what?”_

"Um," She began awkwardly, fiddling with the ends of her sleeves. This was so stupid… how did her peaceful evening turn out like this? “…You know, I have never drunk _real_ wine before, Gil. I’m not even sure how I’m even going to react to this,” and then, as if considering, she made a face, “though after Bathory’s dinner date I don’t think I’d like to find out.”

The blond’s face changed only imperceptibly to that, the change so subtle and hard to read in fact that Hakuno wasn't sure whether he was shocked or offended at the revelation or both, and as she waited for the ringing silence to be disturbed by something - _anything_ -, Hakuno cursed herself for her own stupidity. That, for some reason, had been the wrong thing to say.

The blond tipped himself forward to set the glass against the coffee table with a slam, all remaining traces of good humor seemingly gone in that single instant.

Well. Offended it was, then.

“That you would _dare_ compare something of mine with that dragon’s parody of it! How daring can your ignorance be! At your age, you should know much better than that.”

Hakuno gaped at him, looking up at him from her position on the couch, eyes wide in confused alarm

But—

W-Why the fuck does he sound so _pissed_ about it?

When she recovered from her mild shock, her expression morphed into pissed frustration.

“At my age? Gilgamesh, I’m barely _eighteen_ ,” she seethed, feeling challenged.

Like, she’s pretty sure from all these TV dramas she’s seen already that people her age weren’t supposed to drink—even if they actually did. What’s so wrong with that?

Gilgamesh only tutted derisively at that.

“Even the more reason!” He stood up, approached her spot on the couch with long steps, leaned down until his face was dangerously close to hers -what the fuck, what the fuck, _what the fuck_ \- and then seized her by the shoulders. “Woman! You’re going to _die_ , don’t you understand?” he closed his eyes and made a pause, looking like he either had eaten an entire bag of sour candy or was trying very hard not to choke on his own boiling rage. “The average lifespan of a human female rests at eighty years at _best_ — _”_

“Gil, I’m _ageless,_ I can’t die of old age _,_ I don’t have a human body—”

“ _Do not dare interrupt me_ ,” He hissed right back at her. “As I was saying before your impudent interruption, Hakuno, a time will come when you will die, and the closest to a real banquet you shall have ever had will thus be that dragon’s failed attempt at courting you! _Unredeemable_. To have not yet gone through such a fundamental rite of passage that most have gone through the age of fourteen is nothing but _pathetic_ , and I shall not hear that you won’t drink a single drop of alcohol in my very presence simply because you are reticent and apprehensive out of ignorance! This is a waste of perfectly good wine, Hakuno; I shall not stand the _disrespect_ of having my very own Master refuse me after providing them my vault’s most exquisite wine, even less have it compared to the offerings of a lesser being.”

He sounded so ridiculously offended by it that he didn't even have to look at her to get that point across—which was kind of hard not to when he was practically yelling at her face, so okay, Hakuno thought, _okay_ , she will drink his stupid wine.

She shoved him back with both hands against his chest and sighed again, sounding more tired at her circumstances than angry or frustrated or even _afraid_ , reaching out for the glass of wine. She brought the rim up to her lips with a wary look before taking a small sip, ready to be done with this new episode of ‘things Gilgamesh is stupidly serious about only because it amuses him’ and put it firmly behind her in the ‘Been There Done That’ column of said list. All the while, Gilgamesh’s red eyes followed her every move, staring down at her as if he was being witness to some kind of fascinating play.

She wasn’t sure if she liked the taste; it wasn’t the kind of _bad_ that she remembered, but it was bittersweet with a hint of spicy, and the taste still lingered around the roof of her mouth even after she waited a few seconds for it to fade into normal and swallow the rest of what remained on the cup with a skin-crawling shudder. However, if there was one thing Hakuno could pride herself about, it was that she never knew when to quit. While it was an incredibly destructive trait to have when it came to her personal life, or when the life of the people she considered important was compromised, it did also come with its useful perks.

A few more careful sips later and some more attempts at concealing the fact that Gilgamesh’s ‘most exquisite’ was actually far more bitter than Hakuno and her incredibly sweet tooth could ever hope to stand, the brunette managed to empty the contents of the goblet with just the slightest feeling of sick and lightheadedness.

She kind of felt compelled to pat herself on the back for such a job well done. She didn’t even grimace or, _gods forbid,_ gag.

Leaving the goblet back on the coffee table, she had to ask, “Are we done now?”

Gilgamesh harrumphed scathingly at her, making a great show of sounding exactly like the contrary of satisfied.

“…Did you truly think watching you take something of mine with that foolish, blank face of yours as if it were some torturous obligation you were forcing yourself to go through would satisfy me, Hakuno? That you’d be as sneaky as to trick me into complacency with such an obvious charade?”

Oh, _come on_.

“Well…”

And with keeping with recent tradition, he didn’t let her finish to voice that thought.

“I’ve had enough of your foolish reticence. As it seems, I have been too lenient on you as of late, and I cannot allow a Master of mine to continue being this blissfully oblivious to the merriment that can be derived from the brewages that soothe one’s spirits only because she tasted something foul. This moment, I reckon, shall be as good as any for you to experience the joys and wonders of a true banquet!” which was the last thing he declared before he started to move and beckoned her to follow.

Hakuno remained still as she stared at him go, blank, slow to catch on as usual. “Uh. What?”

Gilgamesh turned round and clapped his hands.

“Well?” he said. “Have you gone deaf during this small lapse of time you have been without me, Hakuno? Don’t try to tell me the thought has not yet occurred to you. You may be slow in the uptake of things, but I am sure not this much, or else I would not have chosen to involve myself with the likes of you. If there is something you still sorely lack what with your fixation with preoccupations and things mundane, that is pleasure in its most pure, hedonistic exuberance. That you would go as far as to reject a cup that I personally poured only because it reminded you of that foolish lancer… Simply unacceptable! For this disrespect, you shall be paying me your dues tonight so as to promptly redeem yourself to me.”

Oh.

_Oh._

Oh no.

Oh no no no no nononono—It was really happening again.

Hakuno felt herself blanch at that. She literally could feel the color leaving her face at Gilgamesh’s words, knowing where this was going to lead her to.

It was time for one of those lessons of his again.

“Wha-but Gil, it’s very nearly midnight, what on _earth_ do you even want us to do?” Hakuno garbled out, eyes going wide as her brain woke up and started to understand where he was getting to.

“And so?” was his careless reply, folding his arms against his chest as he said so. “Do not dare speak nonsense to me; there might be indeed a time and a place for some certain things, but as you should undoubtedly know, any time is as good as any for you to show me your due reverence, Hakuno.”

Hakuno frowned.

“Wait—A time and a place?”

Gilgamesh tapped a finger against his arm.

“Not everything can be _done_ in the streets of some city, don’t you believe? Though there might be some who might say that where there’s a will, there’s a way—or so I believe the saying goes.”

Hakuno slowly whispered his words to herself again, the gears of her mind stirring loudly before recognition flared and she felt herself lose her on-going battle against mortification.

_Unre-fucking-deemable._

She cleared her throat and took another long, deep breath. If she didn’t feel lightheaded before, now she did. For one, she didn’t want to enable him with this, knowing for a fact that some way or another it will end up being some kind of lead-up for something far worse, but on the other hand, there was little she could do other than accept this; Gilgamesh was like a finger trap: the more she struggled, the harder he held her.

Hakuno tried to see a reason in all of this, she really did, but _shit;_ she also didn’t really want to play mind games with Gilgamesh tonight—or ever, if she could help it—, and the more she thought about it, the clearer it became that Gilgamesh would not accept from her anything other but utmost compliance.

…Nonetheless, seeing Gilgamesh so easily amused like this, making him almost look like a regular human, she couldn’t really bring herself to refuse him, even if she was sure she was enabling him. How terrible it can be? It wasn’t as if he was going to burn her clothes _again_.

Low enough that she was almost convinced he couldn’t hear her, she muttered, “…I really can’t really believe you’re talking me into this.”

But he did, and Hakuno felt her heart skip a beat at the look Gilgamesh sent her from where he stood, wholly predatory as he bared his teeth at her in a progressively widening grin that matched the cunning glint in his eyes.

“Oh, but I can, mongrel; I can and I, in fact, _am_ ,” Gilgamesh smirked, tilting his head as some of his fringe, which had been carefully slicked back not long before, started to fall into his eyes, and _fuck_ if Hakuno could appreciate that much, even if he was speaking to her in that tone of voice that said she has just made a very bad bargain; even if Gilgamesh’s personality was like dragging a fork over a plate made of china.

If Gilgamesh himself wasn’t some kind of punishment bestowed upon her for something very, very terrible she’s done in a past life, she really didn’t know what he was to her anymore, though whatever the case, it was already far too late for regrets, and if it was only one stupid goblet of wine, she could go through that much, right? After all, she had eaten the food -if it could be called such- Elizabeth had made for her, so how much worse could something be, compared to that horror?

“Mongrel!” Gilgamesh whipped his head around as he snapped back at her with that familiar impatient tone of his, the one he used when he was expecting someone to give him immediate results, and commanding enough to bring her back to reality in an instant. As expected, he was already leaning against the door, ready to leave. “What do you think you’re still doing there, motionless and still dressed in that sack of ugliness you’ve had the audacity to show yourself to me? Are you planning on just loitering there just to spite me, or are you ever going to get moving?” He scoffed, swooshing his jacket as he made himself ready to leave again.

After all this time, brief though it might have been, Hakuno has come to realize that the more dramatic his gestures were, the more he looked like he was overcompensating for something, the more hurt he was—which she didn’t like in the slightest, because this unwarranted dramatism was precisely what preceded the moments Gilgamesh gets stupidly salty over something inane and she has to play with him the 'guess why I am angry' game.

What the hell. Being that close to midnight, she was hungry enough not to put any of this into question.

“Enough fooling around. Come now, Hakuno, this is not the time for you to concern yourself with trivialities; discard yourself of these ugly rags and dress yourself appropriately and as befitting of a Master that is to stand by my side, _before I decide to do it for you_.”

Hakuno gave out a breathless laugh that quick dissolved into yet another frazzled sigh, knowing exactly how this song and dance went and not having any choice but to accept it.

She could _definitely_ deal with whatever shit Gilgamesh wanted to amuse himself with tonight.

Although…

Suddenly feeling alarmed, Hakuno shot a panicked look at her Servant.

“Wait a—Gil, was… was that a _threat_?”

Gilgamesh’s answering grin was shark-like.


	2. Chapter 2

“Well, just don’t you dare look so _dreadful.”_ Gilgamesh had the nerve to say in a blatant show of suave indifference as he sat opposite her seat, across a finely set table with vase flowers and chandeliers and random paraphernalia that had no other real, useful purpose than to serve as tacky decoration. “I am providing you with exquisite cuisine and a fine mood for you, am I not? What could you possibly be upset about at this moment?” which—okay, it was actually a fair question; why did she find this so eerily disturbing and why couldn’t she help frowning at it?

"I know that this is great and all, Gil, but…" Hakuno mumbled for what must have been the fifteenth time since they made it there. “…Gil, what are we really doing here? If eating was all that you wanted, couldn’t we have just had a meal back home?”

It was at that moment, though, that Hakuno realized that whether or not she had humored him back when he offered her that drink, they would have ended up exactly like this, and exactly at this very same place, because just like she though, that goblet of wine the blond had offered her ‘in his magnanimity’ had been intended to be an absurd lead-up for— _this_ , since the very beginning.

He actually had everything _planned_ —planned to the point that he had booked a table in an ostentatious restaurant where all that planet’s stupidly rich went to, without telling her, confident that she wouldn’t know of his intentions right away, that she would take his bait, that she wouldn’t say ‘no’—and worse of all, _he had been right._ The bastard had been right.

Somehow, she felt that all this nonsense was entirely her fault. It’s been months since she started to share a life with Gilgamesh, she should have expected something to happen the moment that he had told her “ _You may stay. I just remembered I have a few errands to run, I will not be long_ ,” before leaving her alone at the condo.

Hakuno had been expecting many things out of this—Gilgamesh wasn’t prone to do things without an incentive. It was always something for something. Hakuno expected that much and she really found hard to believe this was nothing but.

…But what actually followed, however, was what surely had to be the most surreal experience in Hakuno’s short span of existence. _Gods help them all,_ Gilgamesh was actually acting like a _goddamn human being_ for once.

Said blond didn't reply for a minute and just sat there, sipping his wine with an annoyingly superior look on his face.

“ _Eat_ , you say?” he scoffed. “Must everything you do always be reduced to mere physiological needs, Hakuno? Are you truly this deprived of joy, _even now,_ that even something as simple as this escapes your understanding? Don’t dare soil my good mood with your self-denying nonsense. What is the point of a banquet, if not to have worshipful populace set it for you as they kiss the ground where you stand? As the most absolute of kings, I can have the world to be laid at my feet if I so wish for it, and why should I keep a Master of mine denied of such boons? Granted, you keep saying _no_ , but maybe you shouldn’t be held _responsible_ for that, isolated as you have been,” he said, nodding to himself in approval as if he was actually not speaking to her, but to him _himself_. “Of course, there is pleasure to be derived from the simple act of eating, but nothing will ever come close to the experience of having it given to you. …Or should I assume by that little frown on your face that you were simply expecting I’d allow you to enslave yourself on the kitchen, just like the miserable wench you insist on making yourself to be in the face of others? I should think not! I have seen your attempts at baking and cuisine, Hakuno, not to mention _tasted_ , and they have all literally fallen flat!”

…Well, like a goddamn human being until the moment he remembered that he might be breaking character and quickly went back to being an insufferable piece of shit before anyone could so much as dare believe that he could actually give two fucks about something that wasn’t _himself_ and his stupid, gargantuan ego.

 _Asshole_.

She chose not to answer that and went back to drinking -at least that gave her something to occupy her mind with-, which seemed to suit the blond just fine, seemingly content that she wasn’t making faces anymore whenever she took a sip from her glass.

So Gilgamesh ended up dragging her into the night to the most stupidly ostentatious restaurant that he could find in all of that city, all while he also struggled _not_ to make a spectacle of himself—a challenge in itself, considering that he was dressed in so many gold chains around his neck and wrists that he practically gleamed in the dark. Oh, what the hell, even his designer glasses had small diamonds embedded on the frames. _He was a walking circus!_ Add this to the fact that they were the only humans in a world comprised by mostly anthropomorphic creatures and it became very obvious that they were going to drag attention regardless.

A-And who the hell wore sunglasses at night, anyway? Hakuno frankly believed that Gilgamesh acted more normal when he was inebriated, but then again that probably wasn’t that remarkable: there was a reason as to why most people said that children and drunk people never lied. Hakuno was starting to see why that was such a popular saying.

And thus, this is how she ended up like this, at this restaurant she didn’t know the name of, staring fruitlessly at a menu she couldn’t even begin to read, all while she tried her hardest not to shift too uncomfortably in what she believed were clothes far too revealing for her humble tastes but which also happened to be the only ones Gilgamesh had not frowned disapprovingly upon: a dress that was gold-like in color and made of skin-tight satin, neckline in the form of a “V” much resembling the one her Servant had left unbuttoned on his own shirt and that made it very hard for Hakuno not to hear a familiar saccharine sweet voice whispering in her ear ‘ _what a pretty little doll you must look like’,_ even if she tried her hardest not to let her thoughts dwell much on anything BB-related anymore.

There were times she couldn’t understand her Servant at all. Every time she tried to make sense of why he would go to such extremes for her, Master or not —a pair of glasses with diamond-incrusted frames on someone as average as her? Designer high-heeled shoes that were made more for show than for anything remotely close to comfort? She honestly doesn’t think she will ever be able to pull that off, not to mention, _so uncomfortable!_ —, she only ended up with a headache.

In the end, though, after watching enough animal documentaries to convalidate her a degree in veterinarian studies -thank _God_ Gilgamesh couldn’t read minds and couldn’t know just how many times Hakuno had found herself mentally comparing him to peacocks- she reached the conclusion that the clothes, the jewelry, and everything else Gilgamesh threw at her in an attempt to make sure that everyone who saw her by his side knew that she was lavishly gifted _by him_ was but an exteriorization of his male pride, and this right here was no exception.

Gilgamesh could boast about how awesome and smart he was, but he wasn’t the only one who _knows_ people. Sure, sometimes Hakuno wasn’t sure if she could read him any better now than she could in the early days when she couldn’t tell what exactly would set him off, but after so much time being on the suffering end of his fickleness, Hakuno has learned how to properly read certain cues; if this was how the blond wanted her to present herself to him and in the face of others, it was most possibly because it was the only way he knew to show affection.

So in the end, bearing that in mind and being the compassionate idiot that she is, Hakuno had no choice but to indulge every time he felt in the mood of using her as a means to flex his money at people.

And speaking of which: Gilgamesh, who was currently ordering _half the menu_ , was also leaning well into their shared limited space to reach over her to keep refilling her cup with… was that wine, too? It was somewhat yellow in color and had an oddly familiar, far sweeter taste than whatever he poured her back on their condo. That was all she knew.

Hm.

Well.

She could only hope that whatever it was, it was not toxic for her.

While Gilgamesh made himself busy with ordering what she believed was a ludicrous amount of food, Hakuno took to taking in the restaurant once more. It was… actually a very nice place, she had to admit, and while all of this felt like painful déjà vu, maybe… maybe this wasn’t really so bad, even if everything about their surroundings, from the tacky diamond chandeliers hanging on the ceiling to the marbled-tiled floor and the gold-dipped food, screamed ‘new rich’ so boldly it was frankly a little bit dizzying.

Even if it was hard to believe Gilgamesh hadn’t yet demanded to be given something in return for it.

But… true to his word, though, Gilgamesh had set her a ‘banquet’, as he himself had called it, so grand indeed that she was fairly certain nothing would ever come close to match its exuberance—and also so ridiculously ostentatious and… _out of the blue_ that it was hard to believe that none of this wasn’t actually some very convoluted ploy for _a dinner date_

You—You know, this — this whole thing has been very complex and very perplexing since the very beginning, and the more she thought about it, the more perplexing it became. There was a reason as to why she had been frowning ever since they made it there, and that was because her first thought upon being brought there was not ‘ _Oh, this is so nice_ ’, but actually: _What. The Crap._ Before promptly starting to panic internally—because though she had been right to believe Gilgamesh had something planned when he started spewing nonsense about sharing a drink with her, the knowledge that she had been right in her suspicions wasn’t really making her feel much better about it all because it required her to stop regarding her Servant as just some garden-variety lunatic who happened to have taken enough of a liking to her so as to allow her to exist in his presence and who also had a real dick sense of humor.

—but since she was also prone to follow her hunches and see them through their logical conclusion more often than she should, what the hell—what’s there to lose? Her dignity? Her sanity? She already forfeited all of that when she chose to take his hand. It couldn't get more ridiculous than this, could it?

Eventually, a waitress came to their table with an endless assortment of plates, most of which -if not all of them- Hakuno couldn’t name or even identify by sight. Some of the dishes were oddly resemblant of those she’s seen on the Moon Cell and that were presumably from her original homeland, and as the dishes simply kept coming in, she was suddenly flooded with relief that she’d been smart enough not to indulge - _too much_ \- on sweets before she was literally dragged by Gilgamesh to what had to be this planet’s version of Eleven Madison Park and—oh! She remembered this! What an odd moment to feel so happy for a stray fragment of someone else’s memories—, or otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to finish half of what Gilgamesh has ordered. Maybe she was gaining clairvoyant abilities as well?

Well, regardless of whether that was the case or not, Hakuno was ready to spend the rest of the night watching Gilgamesh get drunk on whatever this place was serving as alcohol—though she had to admit that in her attempts at not being outpaced by him, she herself was starting to get slightly dizzy with just the barest hint of sick as well.

In fact, she felt compelled to look back at him as quickly as the thought came to her, and her Servant simply stared at her in return as if he knew something that she didn’t, as if he somehow knew what she was thinking.

“Feeling hot under the collar, Master?”

 _Cunning bastard_.

“I am _not_ drunk,” she protested with a frown, though what she actually meant to say was ‘I am not _that_ drunk’, but in missing that certain word, she had -unbeknownst to herself- proved his point, something that was made apparent, had she paid attention, when Gilgamesh decided to keep himself quiet, smiling a small smile as he busied himself with what was set on the table.

She decided to do the same as well before she could overthink so much she ended up giving herself a headache. 

As for the food itself, Hakuno couldn’t really object -not that she wanted to, honestly. It all tasted incredibly good, though it was also all _too much;_ too expensive, too ornery, too extravagant. She didn’t fail to notice that for as much as the dishes were neatly presented and dipped in gold, the servings themselves were a little bit… scarce? Was this how high cuisine was really supposed to be? She didn’t much understand the point of it. Don’t people go out to these kinds of places to _eat?_ What was the point of going to eat out if you’re just going to starve? Gilgamesh could rant on and on about banquets and riches but all this ‘new rich’ world was simply so confusing…

“…So. How are you enjoying your stay so far, Master?” Hakuno’s train of thought was reluctantly shattered by Gilgamesh’s voice. Again. It had only been five minutes or so since the last time he had gone quiet, but apparently that was all it took for him to decide that he had grown bored of it. When she looked up to him, she was almost burned by the intensity she found in those inhuman eyes of his as they looked at her with earnest interest. “You look quite content yourself this evening in spite of your earlier reticence. I trust you approve of the choice of dishes?” When she was about to open her mouth to give an answer to that, Gilgamesh just cut her off before she could even begin, answering himself. “Ah, I can tell you do; after all, I have made the pick myself!” he continued shortly after that before breaking into a bark of laughter at his own wit.

What was the point of making questions if you’re just going to answer them yourself? _Jerk_.

Nonetheless, as much as Hakuno wanted to prove him wrong for once, she was not a liar. She didn’t have the spite required for such a thing, and for as much as Gilgamesh could be tactless and ungrateful and selfish to the point of absurd, this had to be the most blatantly… honest? show of affection he’s ever showered her with; never mind how absolutely beautiful the place was or how good the food was (even if somewhat scarce), the real show of kindness here was that Gilgamesh had driven them there and managed _not_ to start doing tricks on the road that he shouldn't do, and this lasted throughout the whole trip. If that wasn’t the most considerate she’s seen of him, she didn’t know what it was, and maybe she had one too many drinks already and she should stop before she made a fool out of herself, but she couldn’t help but feel her stomach give a treacherous twist at the thought that he would care to such an extent —though that detail, however, she would keep to herself as she didn't want to give the blond any unwarranted ego-boost aside from that she was probably going to give him now.

With a smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle and her whole face lighten up, she said, “…Well, I look happy because I am,” and then her smile turned dry as she continued, “though I would have still appreciated it if you had at least _told me something_ before dragging me out by my arm—” Gilgamesh scoffed, “—you were right to bring us here. All of this is very good, Gil. You even managed not to kill us both on the road on our way here; that was a really nice gesture,” she added, drol as per usual.

… _though I’m also a little bit concerned at just how much wine you just keep pouring and pouring down my cup and how little I’m starting to care_ , was also how she meant to continue but didn’t say.

“Of course I've been right; have any of my judgements ever come short of being true?” Gilgamesh said, voice languid but holding a certain edge in it as he swirled his cup of wine as leisurely as he spoke. How many of those had he had now? She hadn't been keeping count. Does Gilgamesh even know the meaning of a hangover?

“…I’d actually like to be shown around more. You once told me you would, and I’m kind of holding you to that still,” she said then, perhaps a touch too quickly, and Hakuno found herself cringing at her own bluntness—though it wasn’t as if anyone had ever prepared her for this. She didn’t know much of the world outside, and with her being modeled after a woman who lost most if not all of her memories before put into cryosleep and from whom she didn’t know that much about, her own knowledge on everything _social_ related was severely lacking. Just how could anyone ever survive any of this?

Surprisingly, Gilgamesh made no further commentary on that, _again_ -weird, she thought; she was at least expecting a quip for it-, but the corners of his mouth twitched in what almost seemed like earnest complacency, a smile without an edge of something dangerous lurking beneath the exterior, which she supposed was enough as far as Gilgamesh’s cryptic, non-verbal responses went.

The rest of the night proceeded as she would expect, eating while Gilgamesh kept drinking himself to near stupor, too preoccupied being too much himself: too excessive, too _everything_ , talking too much and too fast and mostly about himself. As she always did, Hakuno gave him a listening ear for all of his rants, and at some point during the night, Gilgamesh switched from his usual indifference to instead watch her intently even as he ate and spoke of things completely unrelated to herself. At first she didn't mind being watched this intently, but that lasted until silence settled and all that remained was Gilgamesh and his piercing stares. 

She tried very hard not to, but being so thoroughly scrutinized made her skin crawl, overwhelmed by this odd feeling as though she was missing something, a niggling suspicion, if anything. It was one of those things about Gilgamesh that she doubted she would ever grow used to; those pungent stare of his.

Trying her hardest not to burn beneath his gaze, Hakuno was waiting for the moment he would finally throw her a careless jab at or something, _anything_ to break this spell, but the moment never came. Instead, he seemed to be content with simply looking at her for what Hakuno felt was a disproportionate amount of time, in a way that made her chest ache in a funny sort of way -seriously, did she have something on her face or what? Hakuno was well aware that there was nothing at all about herself that would warrant such _blatantly inappropriate_ stares from him- as she busied herself with eating it all.

It was only when she wrinkled her nose as she bit into something that she didn’t quite like, making an effort to swallow before reaching for something safer, that her Servant finally backed down from his staring contest and asked, “Are you not going to eat the rest of that? It’s a shame to let anything go to waste, not to mention terribly uncouth in the face of the one person who has set it out for you.”

“Too bitter,” she told him simply.

He shrugged then, reaching onto her plate and snatching the rest of what she couldn’t possibly eat without her stomach voicing its protests.

“Such a picky Master that I have,” _said the pot to the kettle,_ Hakuno couldn’t help but snort _._ “Very well, then. See that you repay me suitably for this, Hakuno. In my magnanimity, I shall eat whatever is that you don’t want,” he told her, pouring her another cup. “…Or whatever you want me to. Command me so and I shall consider.”

What-

 _Why_.

Okay—she knew she wasn’t the most perceptive individual in the whole universe, not the sharpest tool in the shed, she knew this mostly because she managed to piss off both Rani and Rin at the same time and even now she still couldn’t begin to comprehend why they got so mad at her in the first place - _was it because of something she said?_ \- but there was no fucking way this blatant double meaning was lost to her.

No fucking way.

Hakuno sputtered, not really knowing what was the appropriate response to that but knowing that a response _had_ to be given to that, the soft blush on her cheeks that could actually be attributed to alcohol intake darkening to angry crimson. "I-I’m not your food court!" she blurted out before she could actually think her words through, and she winced as soon as they came out from her mouth because _shit_ she didn’t mean it like _that,_ but it was already far too late to regret her choice of words and she could already feel Gilgamesh’s mocking, laughing eyes on her as the blush spread over her neck.

On any other occasion she might have tried to fight the blush, but this time around, however, she chose not to fight it, ready to blame it all on the glass of wine that she reached out to and sipped from in hopes it would somewhat conceal her loss of composure. It burnt as it went down her throat, and as she tried to ignore her Servant’s laughter from across the table, Hakuno knew that she really should stop drinking if she wanted to come back from this with her dignity intact and be able to look back on this with something other than mortification and regret, but she found she couldn’t. All that she could afford was wish _again_ that this banquet hall was far emptier than it actually was.

Gilgamesh shrugged with a delighted smile, opening his mouth to say, “suit yourself,” in that superior, know-it-all tone of his, before going back to his food as if he had said nothing of that. Given how morbid yet absurd his sense of humor is, Hakuno’s not sure if he was making a joke or not—but no one would say such a thing without meaning something else, so it had to be one, certainly.

 _How has my life come to this_ , Hakuno thought to herself tiredly as she tried to recollect the shattered pieces of her dignity, fascinated how the more time she spent with Gilgamesh, the less time he seemed to need to break it down.

Hell, she wasn’t even given the time to properly recover from any of that, as less than a few minutes after he went to deliberately press the length of his knee up against her thigh under the table under the pretext of reaching out for a plate—

“——!”

—and she jolted up and almost knocked everything that was on her spot of the table. She dropped her cluttery with a resounding ‘clank!’ on a plate, the sound making a few people look their way with mixed curiosity and apprehension.

She shot her Servant a look that was both panicked and questioning.

Gilgamesh, though? The bastard only raised an eyebrow as if he did not do that deliberately only to shake her up -and Hakuno doubted Gilgamesh had enough shame to even remember how _not_ to do things like these if not on purpose-, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a not-quite smile, and she could see clear as fucking day that he was _amused_.

She clenched her teeth. None of this was good for her continued sanity.

“Gil.”

“Hm?”

She took a breath.

“What-Why—What was that for?”

The corner of his mouth lifted in something akin to satisfaction—of the complacent kind, not at all like the sick, cruel look of gratification that she had become so used to see on his face by now.

“…You looked like yourself just now," Gilgamesh finally said, his voice low with meaning and gaze narrowed and heated. She shifted under his scrutiny, "It's such a rare sight I just had to savor the moment, Hakuno."

Hakuno blinked once. Then twice, and then she exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

“…What are we _really_ supposed to be doing here?” she asked - _again-_ in a deadpan, swallowing some of her pride when her curiosity got the better of her, but Gilgamesh only smiled laconically at her.

“Slow to catch as always; though if it’s reassuring for you, not many of my previous mongrel contractors have ever been.” _Eh, not really_ , she thought to herself as she eyed him dubiously. Sometimes she really wished he could just go straight to the point of things instead of taking so many detours around a subject. “I should think I have made myself known,” she’s… pretty sure he hasn’t—unless his cryptic monologues or his god-awful ‘AUO jokes’ constituted some kind of coded message for her to decrypt, “but provided that you have kept me amused with such a riveting show of involuntary entertainment what with your continued flailing, I suppose it is befitting of I to give you a smidge of my valuable insights. I am fairly certain you shall know how to repay me for such,” he chuckled, his velvety, deep voice mocking as if he was making her a favor. _Oh, wow, fuck you_ , she thought to herself, but even that small moment of spite was denied of her. 

As Gilgamesh leaned forward with complete disregard to table manners to most probably tell her something, all that she could do was think, _wait, what?_ Which lasted up until the point he started to eat up all of her personal space, and suddenly his face was much, much closer, and then she began thinking _oh, shit, oh fuck_ , **_ohshit_** _-_

Feeling her entire body turn hot, and following a self-preservation impulse that she didn’t quite understand, Hakuno took the nearest empty dish at her disposal and held it in front of her face like some kind of shield, letting out a rather undignified litany of whispered fucks, damns, and shits to the betrayal of her body functions. She must have looked like an idiot, but she preferred to look like one rather than exposing herself to a scenario that she didn’t know if it was even _safe_.

…However, he only gave her a kiss right behind her ear, a rather uncharacteristically chaste gesture for someone infamously known for his weird paraphilia with virgins and pretty much anything with a hole in it, whispering, “What are we doing here, indeed. Why don’t you answer me yourself that one, Master? Why, pray tell, do you believe we are here for?”

Even through her very badly concealed embarrassment and half-drunk stupor, Hakuno still had it in her to give him a dry look. If she had the slightest fucking clue, she wouldn’t have asked in the first place. He’s so unbelievably full of shit that one day she’s sure his eyes will turn the exact same shade of brown as hers.

“At this point in time, I should think you ought to knowledgeable enough that you shouldn’t make such inane questions, Hakuno.” He chuckled again, shaking his head so his earrings swing back and forth as he ran the back of his fingers across her cheek in a gesture far more caring than she thought him capable of. “I have all but offered my vault’s most precious to you, something for which you should undoubtedly feel grateful of to the point of _tears,_ and what do I find in return? Confusing half-resistance.” He snorted. “How long are you planning to keep on insulting my good graces like this, Hakuno? Even someone as naïve as the likes of you must know how to take appropriate responsibility!” And then he made a face. “Or possibly you _wouldn't,_ considering how far this masochistic streak of yours can go. _Outrageous_ , though upon reflection, unsurprising.”

Ever so slowly, the brunette brought her trusty shield-dish down and away from her face, placing it back on the table, and saw Gilgamesh giving her a smile as he retreated back to his seat, still sharp with his usual impenetrableness but less intimidating than any of his many others and that shoots straight through her chest, and Hakuno —earnest, heart-on-sleeve Hakuno Kishinami— knew not where to even begin with this.

Was he demanding her to take responsibility? Responsibility on _what_?

And finally, the thought came to her like being punched by a shark, realizing with a troublesome tightness in her stomach what all of this subterfuge actually was for _._

Hakuno’s whole nervous system short-circuited, slowly going red again in the only way belated realization could manage. It just… didn't occur to her.

Her face burned, and that served as enough of an answer for Gilgamesh apparently, because sounding far too amused for any of this to be regarded as safe, he just said, “Now. Do we need the guise of dinner anymore, or can I come to you now? Though I usually prefer not to demand my prices upfront, as it’s much more amusing to leave you waiting and wondering and flailing over possibilities, I would so not mind getting a sample of your food court.”

Wait, _what_ \--

The air was suddenly knocked from her lungs. Suddenly starved for oxygen and in urgent need to _escape_ -outside, to the bathroom, she didn’t care-, she stood up abruptly, nearly upending her chair in the process just as she felt his words wreaking havoc through her body, but instead of remaining upright Hakuno swayed and stumbled dangerously, only managing to get ahold of the table’s with both her hands though all for naught.

Fuck, _shit._

…because her desperate attempt at finding purchase on something solid only ended up with her still falling gracelessly onto the floor, landing with her elbows and accidentally knocking everything on the floor with a glorious sound of broken glasses and a cry of alarm that soon morphed into one of pain.

Naturally, all that she earned in response was not _concern,_ but a mighty bark of laughter, the absurd thought that she had dared to entertain of Gilgamesh remotely acting like a normal human being for fucking once completely gone.

“Now that’s more like it, Master!” she heard him vociferate from above. “If only you could have seen your foolish face! You truly are something else, Hakuno. It is just as I thought, you shall never fail to provide me with amusement!”

_Sleazy jerk!_

Hakuno let her head collide against the floor along with the scattered glasses and the spilled alcohol, having the presence of mind not to close her eyes in case she could feel the whole restaurant start spinning beyond her control.

She must have looked brick red by now. She didn’t want to think about it.

"This…this is just…Ugh,” She was too clumsy and dizzy to be dealing with any of this. It was already bad enough that she’s fallen and that she couldn’t trust she’d be able to stand up on her own without falling again and making a fool out of herself once more, she didn’t need Gilgamesh making it worse. “Okay. Gil. Look. Haha, very funny, I get it. But do you think you can spare me..." she took a deep breath through her nostrils, "...some of that magnanimity of yours and _help me get the fuck up?_ ”

Gilgamesh had been too busy laughing loudly to even listen to her, and as he did, she didn’t fail to notice how the rest of the restaurant had suddenly grown silent and was regarding them with wary faces. That, coupled with the light acoustic music in the background filling in the sudden silence, only served to make all of this even more awkward.

This had to be some kind of punishment for something. It really _had to._

At some point Gilgamesh actually stopped laughing at her and made himself useful by lifting her up from the ground, hooking an arm underneath her knees and another around her shoulders in time for him to croon in a whisper, voice low and leading, “…Foolish fool. Would you truly limit yourself at asking of me such a trifling thing as mere ‘help’? There is nothing I would not give you; you know I truly cannot abide seeing you suffer so,” and it was only then that with a fierce and sudden tightness around her heart, she thought that she really didn’t mind if it was a punishment.

Hakuno smiled wryly against the fabric of his shirt, wondering for the first time but certainly not the last at which point she started to feel so attached to a chronic migraine—but then again, perhaps it was just to be expected. This was all her fault, after all. Leaving the Moon Cell may not have been a decision that she made out of her own volition; it was a decision that someone else made for her simply because it so happened to suit their selfish needs. However, taking the hand of the very same person who was selfish enough to make that choice for her, to follow the whims of a man who was probably completely delusional and join him in a world where death was still as certain, _that_ had been her choice, one that wasn’t born out of the need to retaliate against someone because she’s been hurt or backed into a corner, but born out of genuine desire to live. 

All of those empty spaces that had comprised her previous life, she had allowed him to fill them with his overbearing presence. She could only blame but herself for it, and there was little left to do other than woman up and take responsibility. 

Indeed, there was a life out there just waiting for her—a life with Gilgamesh by her side, even if the notion still kind of sounded a tad too ridiculous, but there she was, and there he was, and she would be lying if she said her heart didn’t sing at the very thought of forever being able to share a life with him, even when he’s currently making an already mortifying situation for her even the more mortifying, stupidly smug and tactless as he could be.

Hakuno might really not know what she was doing anymore -but that was just how things have been going for her entire existence, so she might as well just keep going and make things up as she goes, just like she’s always been doing since the moment she gained awareness.

Her new universe was waiting for her, and she was going to seize it—or she will, at least after Gilgamesh let her go and the world around her stopped moving so much, that is.

**Author's Note:**

> I, like, have a problem with synthetizing the stuff I write. I always try to keep things short, believe me I do, but they never stay that way 🥀🥀  
> so I'm dividing this into two parts kskskskks
> 
> Also, I understand wholeheartedly Hakuno's plight; I, as well, try not to drink things that remind me of all the times I almost died because of them.


End file.
